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That makes sense, but I don't think it explains why Supreme Court decisions can change so drastically. What changed between Cumming v. Richmond County Board of
by burkaman 9y ago
That makes sense, but I don't think it explains why Supreme Court decisions can change so drastically. What changed between Cumming v. Richmond County Board of Education and Brown v. Board of Education? What changed between Pace v. Alabama and Loving v. Virginia?
I can think of a few possibilities:
1. Pre-1950s courts were consistently incompetent and didn't understand the meaning of the 14th amendment.
2. Pre-1950s courts were consistently malicious and deliberately ignored the meaning of the 14th amendment.
3. Pre-1950s courts were correct about the meaning, and post-1950s courts have universally abandoned originalism and now apply their own invented meaning of the 14th amendment.
4. The meaning of the 14th amendment changed.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- wnoise 9y agoMy current conclusion is 2 and bit of 1 via overly deferent stare decisis. In fact, there was a short span of time immediately post civil war where civil rights were effectively enforced in the South. Reconstruction ended too soon.